Wednesday in a Cafe
by poeticgrace
Summary: Deacon watches love begin again between his niece and a very broken man. ONE SHOT.


Deacon sat the bar, a cup of coffee in his hand, staring idly out the window on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. The Blue Bird was empty, save for a few regulars talking in pairs by the window and a lone man typing away at his computer. It was business as usual around the old cafe, pretty much dead until night came. Scarlett was nearby wiping table, taking her time as she refilled salt shakers and hummed along sadly to music playing on the dusty jukebox in the corner.

She hadn't been the same since her breakup with Avery. Deacon wanted to kill the guy for what he had put his niece through. Her otherwise sunny disposition was long gone, replaced by this sad, melodramatic girl who couldn't seem to get through a single day anymore without crying. She'd been holed up on his couch for a week now, ever since rent had come due and she couldn't pull enough tips to make it happen. He tried to pretend he didn't hear her crying at night, but they both knew in the morning that he had heard everything. The whole situation only went to confirm everything he thought about Avery Barkley, but Scarlett still wouldn't stand for even a second of anyone badmouthing her ex-boyfriend.

He was just about to pick up the day's paper from behind the bar when the bell over the door chimed. He looked up and saw Avery standing there, guitar case in hand, a pale version of the man he used to be. Scarlett threw her rag down on the table she was cleaning.

"Avery, what are you doing here?"

Deacon took a deep breath and considered whether he should step in or not. He knew Scarlett would hate him if he interfered, but he couldn't stand to hear her crying another night. He was about to crawl off the barstool when Avery crossed the old bar. Scarlett put one hand on her hip and wiped her other hand absently on her apron. "I asked you what you were doing."

"I had to see you, Scar," he said softly. Even from where he was sitting, Deacon could see the tears shining in his eyes. Avery shook his head and looked down at his old boots, scuffing one toe in the grime on the old bar floor. "My record contract..." His voice trailed off. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore."

Scarlett rolled her eyes and threw up her hands before staring down at those stupid boots. "I haven't known what you were doing for a long time," she declared sadly.

"Well, I'm apologizing to start," he shrugged. "I was about to sign the papers, had everything I ever wanted right in front of me. But it felt empty, Scar, because the one person I wanted to share this with wasn't there with me. I know this is what I thought I wanted, but the cost is too high for me to sell everything out that I've ever known. My morals, my values, the guys, you...I'm so sorry, Scarlett."

She looked down at her hands in front of her and then over his shoulder at Deacon. Her uncle shrugged with one shoulder. He wouldn't give her permission, but he wasn't going to tell her not to do this either. This was one of the things she had to figure out for herself. It was her heart that had been broken, her heart that was back on the line.

"Why don't you sit down?" she offered, pointing toward one of the empty tables she had just cleaned. "We can talk. I'll get us some coffee." Avery smiled this certain smile, one that she recognized. "I mean it, Avery, only talk."

"That'd be nice," he agreed before slipping into the empty chair she'd kicked out from the table. Avery looked around the bar before his eyes finally settled on Deacon. The younger man nodded in acknowledgement but knew there were no words he could say to make this anger between them okay.

"We're just talking," Scarlett drawled in that slow accent of hers as she popped up behind the bar to pour two cups of coffee. "You don't have to worry. I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sure you do," he replied over the lip of his coffee cup. He smiled up at her and wrapped his knuckles against the bar. "Head as hard as your Mama's." Scarlett just smiled mysteriously and headed back to where Avery was waiting for her.

Deacon must have sat there watching them talk for an hour. He kept expecting there to be tears but they never came. Instead, much to his surprise, Scarlett started to actually smile. Somewhere about 45 minutes in, she even laughed. It had been too damn long since Deacon had heard that sound.

By the time Avery left with a slip of paper with her new phone number written on it, Scarlet was humming a much happier tune to herself. She finished wiping the tables and refilling the salt shakers and replenishing the sugar packets in record time. And then, as she stowed away the dirty coffee cups in the sink, she smiled over at her uncle. "See, I told you everything was gonna be alright," she smirked smartly.

Deacon had never really believed too much in second chances, but on that Wednesday, in a cafe, he watched love begin again.

_FIN._

* * *

_Author's Note: Song title from Taylor Swift's "Begin Again."_


End file.
